


Marks the Spot

by midoritakamine



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bunch of rarepairs in the background, M/M, The soulmate AU where you feel the same pain and get the same scars as your soulmate(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-01-30 06:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoritakamine/pseuds/midoritakamine
Summary: Tsukasa thinks it's a horrible curse. Subaru thinks it's funny.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> GOD i've been working on this since like april and it's still not done. i have five chapters written out at the time i post this so i'll update like weekly maybe but  
> god i love subakasa. i love soulmate aus. i just i love. my fucking comma key broke in the middle of writing this so i've been alt+44'ing all the commas from like. makoto's chapter on
> 
> there's a lot of rarepairs in this although i stuck to some pretty popular pairs as well. something for everybody. i'll mention in the notes before each chapter what charas/ships are in the chapter in case u want to avoid a chara/ship. this chapter is sort of a preview/intro i guess
> 
> anyway please join me on the rarepair train i'm begging u. read new years gacha
> 
> charas and ships this chapter:  
> \- keito, yuzuru  
> \- keichi

It’s by chance, really, that Tsukasa notices the ugly gash across Keito’s chest.

The Archery Club’s locker room is nonexistent, so more often than not they all find themselves changing from their school uniforms to archery uniforms there on the club grounds. All members (save for Leo,  _ of course _ ) manage to respect each other’s changing spaces and don’t cast looks at each other. As lax with the rules as Keito gets once the archery uniform goes on, he doesn’t particularly seem to care for anybody observing the process.

Leo had once teased that Keito is shyer than expected, but all he received in reply is, “These aren’t simply my marks and it’s an invasion to his privacy to show them to you.” Leo shut up immediately, fingers brushing briefly over the part of his chest where his heart sat. Nobody ever teased about the marks again. Tsukasa never saw them, as he always keeps his word and didn’t turn around when Leo began the jabs, but based on the cool silence that hovered over that day’s practice, they must have been horrible.

Rustling Ritsu awake and getting him to practice caused Knights’ practice to take exponentially longer than usual. Despite his insistence, Leo had waved off Tsukasa and thus archery practice in favor of the twisted melody he had been furiously scribbling across Izumi’s arm. Tsukasa ducked out before the truly nasty quips began, making as quick of a dash to the Archery Club as his little legs could take him.

His rush caused him to throw open the door with a fervent apology right in the middle of Keito and Yuzuru changing.

Immediately his face tints a shade from embarrassment at seeing his upperclassman in such a state and shame at being so late to practice. When he opens his eyes again, they fall away from Keito’s raised brow and to his chest. He has to cover his mouth to keep from emitting an exclamation of shock.

Today, he confirms that yes, the almost surgical scar across Keito’s chest is horrible. Unsightly at the least. His eyes follow its path, from its start just under his left collarbone down his pectoral and ending a shade above the beginning of his stomach. It looks almost healed, but the discoloration and abnormal lack of medical stapling makes a thought come to Tsukasa’s mind. The mention of an invasion of privacy to somebody that isn’t Keito, and that these marks aren’t just Keito’s to bare…

As soon as he caught sight of it, the scar is gone, vanished underneath the cloth of an archery uniform. With the distraction gone, he meets Keito’s eye and apologizes once more. His mouth hovers open, the elephant in the room dancing on his tongue, but the gentle shift in his upperclassman’s eye tells him to keep it to himself and let it be. Without a word, he turns towards the equipment racks and begins pulling down their needed supplies for the day.

Tsukasa quietly meets Yuzuru’s eyes, the question still hovering on his lips. Yuzuru smiles back, but there’s a hidden sadness behind them that Tsukasa can’t quite understand. He lets the question go.

* * *

 

The human race is cursed. That’s the philosophy Tsukasa has signed himself under ever since he was young. What else could going to bed in pristine health and waking up with bruises on his arms and his knees scraped be if not a curse? He’s not the only one that attests to this as well; all of his classmates end up with bruises or scars from incidents they don’t recall, and could have never possibly happened.

He solidly knew for a fact this had to be some kind of curse the evening when he was six years old. Out of nowhere, his nose began bleeding and a horrendous pain engulfed his face. He had simply been having dinner beside one of the Suou household servants when it afflicted him. Nobody had struck him, nor had any objects flown wildly towards him. It magically sprung out of nowhere. The hospital dictated that he was suffering the same effects of a broken nose, yet his actual nose wasn’t harmed in the least.

That’s when the curse had been named to him. In English, he’d label it  _ soulmate _ .

His parents were far too busy to teach him any of the details of the curse, so he relied on one of the elderly servants he’s known since his birth. A week after his not-broken nose incident had he scurried to her resting chambers and thrown open the door with all the might his six year old body could muster. Thinking back, he regrets almost giving her a heart attack when he proclaimed, “Miss Servant, what is a soulmate curse?”

She had dumbed it down for him, that much is obvious when he recalls her words in present day. She had died a short time after, so he can’t revisit her and get an updated version. Then again, he didn’t really need to; what she had said was enough: “Pinch yourself whenever you meet somebody new, Tsukasa dear. If they wince as you wince, then never let them go.”

For a few years, he followed her word religiously, even more so than the Suou family code of conduct that he inscribed in his brain. If he even caught a glimpse of somebody he was unfamiliar with, young or old, he’d expose his left wrist and pinch until his eyes stung from the pain. Nobody ever flinched back. The fruitlessness began to wear him down. By the time he entered Yumenosaki, he had given up on this accursed  _ soulmate _ business. By now, he has more important things to do, such as become a shining idol and get Leo to remember his name.

Still, in the dead of night on those nights that he couldn’t find sleep, he stares at his wrist and pinches it briefly. A stupid little calling card, he supposes, to let the person (or people; he’s scared of but not opposed to the idea of more than one person being on the receiving end of his pinches; and multiple people would make all of these silly injuries and scars he’s accumulated make more sense. No one person could be this careless) on the other spiritual end know that he hasn’t given up. At least not yet.

When sleep finally decides to bless him on those nights, sometimes he swears he feels somebody pinching his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> charas/ships in this chapter  
> \- arashi  
> \- background trickstar
> 
> btw i use she/her exclusively and refer to arashi as a girl so if that bothers u feel free to change it in ur head

Knights has practice immediately after classes. Unfortunately for them, there's only one practice room available, and it's double booked for both Knights and Trickstar.

His lips purse the second he reads the other unit's name on the whiteboard hung outside of the room. What is such a novice collection of ragtags doing, thinking they deserve to share a room with Knights? It makes no sense to him. Trickstar can wait until they're finished with the room; it's not as if any of them have anything better to do, right? The one redhead with the hair clip (Isara-senpai, he thinks?) could fill the waiting time with assisting the student council.

Of course Leo refuses to make them wait. He invites Trickstar in like it's his house, and he's welcoming guests to a party. He even manages to name their leader, an "Akehoshi"! Why he can remember  _ his _ name but not Tsukasa's is a question he'd love an answer to. Asking would be pointless; Leo hardly remembered to invite him to practice today.

For the stretching portion of pre-practice, Tsukasa stares hard across the room at Trickstar. He doesn't even feel any pain when Arashi pushes him a little too far past his comfort zone in stretching. He doesn't register her voice either when she speaks until she's forced to snap her fingers in his face.

"Ah- Narukami-senpai?" His eyes focus on her fingers, and then her face. She looks bothered.

"Tsukasa-chan," she reprimands, "have you been listening to me?"

"No, I'm sorry."

Arashi hums and kneels beside him on the hardwood floor. She cups her chin with her right hand, holding her elbow with the other as she examines him. Her critical eyes make a bubble of nerves pop in his stomach, and he swallows thickly. Her eyes are much too piercing for him to handle like this...

"You're studying Trickstar quite seriously. Is something wrong?" He opens his mouth to protest. He is  _ not _ staring at them! Before he can get a word out, she smiles and lets out a giggle. "Mm, don't deny it Tsukasa-chan. You've been staring at them the whole time I've been helping you prepare for practice. Did one of them mess with you?"

"All of them!" He blurts it out before he can stop himself, craning his neck to look back at her. He's fully aware of the pout he's making, but he can't wipe it off his face. "Today was supposed to be a grand practice just between us Knights. We could coordinate and organized ourselves into the best unit and prepare to give our fans the show they deserve. And- agh, then that group of bumbling  _ idiots _ stormed into here and are now going to disrupt the sanctity of our practice!"

One of Arashi's hands cover her mouth, but the creases in her cheeks and the crinkles by her eyes make it evident enough she's grinning, wholly amused by Tsukasa's outburst. She gives him a moment to breathe before she speaks, rubbing circles into his back with her other hand. "Ara... you sure seem annoyed by them joining us. But is it truly so bad?"

"Wha-?"

"You see, Tsukasa-chan," she shifts to sit on her butt instead of kneeling on her knees with an 'oomph' noise, stretching her legs out, "we are Knights. We are a dignified, charming unit meant to enthrall everybody with our performance. Right?"

Though his eyes narrow in suspicion, he nods. "Yes, we are."

"So as such a unit, wouldn't it be good of us to enthrall and capture Trickstar's attention?" He opens his mouth to complain, but she raises a finger, a glint in her eyes telling him to stay quiet until she's done. "Tsukasa-chan, being an idol isn't simply about pleasing the fans. It's about gathering fans as well. If we can draw in Trickstar's attention and make them love our performance, even as just a practice, wouldn't that make them our fans? And isn't it you who was just insisting we please our fans?"

Even if he groans in response, he's aware that Arashi's logic makes sense. Of course he wants Knights to garner more fans so that they can bring happiness to more people (and perhaps if he himself can gather fans, Leo will begin remembering his name...), but to have such fans be other units...? If Arashi had presented the concept of Fine being their fans, Tsukasa would have jumped at the chance to make such a thing happen. Eichi's attention would be spectacular. The attention of four newbies with godawful outfits? What's the point of that?

Tsukasa meets her eye, sighing through his nose. "Alright, Narukami-senpai. If it means bringing more fans under our  _ wings _ , I'll gladly persevere through a joint practice with them."

Delighted with herself and his newfound attitude, Arashi claps with a joyful laugh. "Ah, Tsukasa-chan~ You truly are a wonderful boy. Nee-chan is so proud of you."

He intends to question why she babies him so much, he does, but a sharp pain consumed his ankle and he grits his teeth. He almost curses in English, but across the room somebody else beats him too it with a harsh, "Ow!"

"Ah, Akehoshi!"

"Akehoshi-kun, be careful!"

"Are you okay? Do you need a hand?"

Both Arashi and Tsukasa look up and cast their eyes upon the scene. Hokuto and Makoto stand together, looking concerned while Mao is half-kneeling, offering a hand out to the fallen Subaru. On the ground, Subaru holds his left ankle as he hisses through his teeth. After a second, he glances up and gives his unit members a grin and thumb up, assuring them he's fine. When he takes Mao's hand and attempts to stand, however, the pressure he places on his ankle make him whine and lean on Mao.

As Subaru puts pressure on his ankle, the sharp throb in Tsukasa's own picks up again and he groans under his breath, grabbing at it. Did he fall earlier today? He doesn't recall that happening, nor can he think of anybody tripping him or him stepping wrong. The stretches Arashi put him through wouldn't have harmed his ankle. A mystery pain? It's as if that curse had begun to act up again, which makes him scowl. Couldn't whoever existed on the other end of the line hold off on injuring themselves until after practice?

Mao and Hokuto begin leading Subaru out of the room, Makoto trailing after them with their bags in his arms. Tsukasa doesn't bother to watch them go, instead rolling his own ankle to test it.

While his eyes stay focused on the painful throbs mysteriously produced by his ankle, Tsukasa misses the enlightened gleam in Arashi's eyes as she looks between him and the doorway where Trickstar just exited.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> charas/ships this chapter:  
> \- makoto  
> \- briefly tsumugi  
> \- junmako

After a couple days, the pain in his ankle fades and Tsukasa completely forgets about Subaru's stumble. In fact, he forgets that Trickstar had even been there to interrupt Knights' practice because his first thought upon seeing Makoto in the hallway is,  _ I haven't seen Yuuki-senpai for a month. _

He walks around Makoto, glancing down at the books in his hand as he goes. He needs to return these to the library as quickly as possible; they're overdue, Leo losing them in his frenzy of inspiration and creating yet another problem for Tsukasa. Problems are all Leo seems to create for him as of late. Their practice session yesterday he missed all because Leo never bothered to tell him. The other members of Knights didn't either, but usually it is the leader's responsibility for organizing and planning practices. Leo should have anyway.

As he's about to open the library door, he hears a somewhat nasally, "Oh, Suou-kun!"

His hand hovers an inch away from the door, glancing up to meet bright eyes slightly obscured by the lens glare caused by the overhead lights. Tsukasa bites back an annoyed grumble. Just what he needed, another run in with Trickstar. Don't these fools understand he's their enemy?!

"Yuuki-senpai," he says coolly, now cradling the books to his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees movement in the library. Tsumugi, ducking into a back room. He resists the urge to click his tongue. Now he's going to have to wait until Tsumugi re-emerged to return the books, and that could take an hour or more. He has things to do tonight... "What is it?"

Makoto's face falls a fraction, and he ducks his head to avoid Tsukasa's less than friendly gaze. The shyness just bothers him more.  _ Spit it out already please. I'm in a hurry. _ His thoughts don't seem to get through to Makoto, so he stretches out a hand and snaps his fingers right under Makoto's nose. This startles him enough to look back to Tsukasa and grin sheepishly, scratching at his cheek.

"Yuuki-senpai?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry! Sorry, Suou-kun. I wanted to ask you something about one of those books you're holding."

Tsukasa looks down at the books tucked against his chest. A book about rhythm, a fantasy novel, a fan continuation to a manga done by Mizunohame-sensei, and lastly a book about curses. He scowls at the last one's cover. Of course it had nothing to do with the  _ soulmates _ baloney detailed inside.

Interestingly enough, when he pulls the book of curses forward to scowl, Makoto yelps and gestures to it. "Yes, that one!"

Tsukasa gives him a curious look. "A book of  _ curses _ ? Is Yuuki-senpai into things unexpected of him? Are you becoming closer friends with Sakasaki-senpai?" That would explain it. Trickstar's exuberant redhead and Natsume are friendly, so it makes sense to Tsukasa that Makoto would try to be friendly towards him as well given his position. Plus, it wouldn't hurt him. Makoto doesn't seem to have many friends to Tsukasa's knowledge.

Maybe if they weren't in rivaled units, he would have considered being friends with Makoto.

The brief 'what if' thought leaves his mind quickly, and Makoto begins to wave a hand to dismiss what was spoken. "Ah, no! I'm not trying to be like Sakasaki-kun and get into all that dark creepy stuff. I'm just... Suou-kun, did that book have anything to do with, uh, y'know, that?"

"That?"

Makoto winces, and does a cautious glance around the hallway to assure nobody's within earshot. It's a strange move, and Tsukasa's eyes narrow a fraction in suspicion. Makoto is being awfully secretive which is unlike him. (Tsukasa then questions how he would even know what Makoto truly is like, and he sets that bit of self-reflection to the side for a later date.)

While he thinks, Makoto must have spoken because he hears his name timidly called. "My apologies, Yuuki-senpai. I was thinking about what you were speaking about."

"Erm..." Now Makoto's cheeks are flushing, and it confuses Tsukasa even further. He stays silent, encouraging Makoto to continue. "Well, you know how you get random phantom pains sometimes? For example, maybe you're sitting in a chair and suddenly it feels like somebody punched you even if you're alone?"

The memory of his not-broken nose from younger resurfaces, and he nods. "Yes, I get those."

Makoto seems more confident as he continues now. "Oh, then you know what I'm referencing then! The curse sort of thing... I asked Sakasaki-kun about it, and he told me it was a curse even he couldn't comprehend and that I needed to read up on it. I was hoping that book you-"

" _ Soulmates _ ?"

Makoto tilts his head, likely attempting to translate the English. "So-ru-ma-e-to-su...? So-ru-ma... oh!" A light flicks on in his eyes and he nods vigorously. "Yes, that! Did the book have anything on those?" He looks incredibly eager, even leaning in to Tsukasa's personal space with a hopeful stare. It makes Tsukasa feel guilty, almost, to tell him that there's nothing about soulmates in the book.

His expression must have given it away, because Makoto's hopeful gleam dims and he pulls back a few inches. He'd feel bad leaving him unanswered, so Tsukasa says, "I'm sorry, Yuuki-senpai. I read the book for the same reason and there was nothing inside discussing this curse." Curiosity pokes the back of his head, and Tsukasa can't help but add on, "Also, who exactly are you looking this up for? Yourself?"

"Ehe... yeah." Makoto's eyes study a point just to Tsukasa's left, and he glances over his shoulder to see if anybody's there. While there isn't a person, a poster hangs on the wall, displaying an unfamiliar portrait of a two man idol group. "There's a reason."

The two young men on the poster are completely new figures to Tsukasa. Their idol costumes aren't those of any unit at Yumenosaki, and their faces cause his mind to draw a blank at their identities. From this far away, making out the text on the poster is difficult, but he does catch Reimei written in bold kanji around their waists.

He glances at Makoto's face, and follows his line of sight back to the poster where it rests upon the frumpier of the two young men. In a way, his expression and pose made Tsukasa think of Koga. He does another glance and follow through to confirm that's where Makoto's eyes landed.

"... Yuuki-senpai, is that angry person on the poster your supposed  _ soulmate _ ?"

Bingo. Makoto's attention snaps right back to Tsukasa and a fluster comes over him, cheek turning red and his hands beginning to wave in front of him. "Oh, aha, well- Suou-kun, I'm-"

"It's alright, Yuuki-senpai," he dismisses, waving his own hand. Makoto's fluster makes his own start up, his cheeks feeling a pinch warmer than they did a minute ago. "I don't blame you for being curious. I'm amazed you know who it is!"

Makoto stops waving his hands, now curious himself as he looks at Tsukasa. "You don't know who your soulmate might be?" Tsukasa shakes his head to affirm. "Wow... I thought you might have known given you seem to know a lot about it. Aha, strange. Do you have any ideas about who it could be?"

"Somebody incredibly clumsy and bothersome!" Tsukasa's cheeks puff out. He's aware he looks like a child right now, but the irritation his soulmate causes him outweighs his need to look dignified in front of his senior. "This person breaks their nose and gets paper cuts and falls so much. Just a few days ago as Knights had been preparing for practice, they must have injured their ankle because mine began to throb in pain. Idiot!"

Through his ranting, he misses the thoughtful and then enlightened expression on Makoto's face. "So it's-"

"Ah, Aoba-senpai is back!" Tsukasa catches a glimpse of the cryptic library assistant emerging from his hidden passageways, and he hurriedly dips his head to Makoto. "I'm sorry Yuuki-senpai, I have to return these books. Thank you for speaking with me!"

"Suou-kun, wait!"

The door to the library shuts before Makoto can finish his sentence, Tsukasa unknowingly running from the answer he wanted since childhood for the second time in a week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want to add a hashtag disclaimer that i have no clue how to write mika "but reio u rp mika" i have no c
> 
> charas/ships this chapter  
> \- mika  
> \- natsumika  
> \- kaoshu

Tsukasa quite literally bumps into Mika two days later.

"Oh, my apologies Kagehira-senpai." He ducks his head, moving to pick up the bundles of fabric that spilled from his senior's arms. He's so preoccupied picking them up that he doesn't hear Mika calling his name. Eventually, the snapping of fingers right in his ear makes him startle and he looks up hurriedly towards Mika. "Kagehira-senpai?"

He doesn't know a lot of things about Mika. He's a 2nd year; he has heterochromia; he's in the unit Valkyrie alongside Shu; he's an amateur at sewing; he doesn't like being stared at; his voice is strangely accented. Anything beyond that is a mystery, including but not limited to why Mika is carrying all of these bright neon fabrics and looking as if he woke up late for an important date.

"S'okay, Suou-kun~" Mika's smile is obviously forced, though in all likelihood Mika cannot tell that himself. The way his knuckles turn white as he clutches at the fabrics causes Tsukasa to give him a curious look, to which Mika averts his eyes. "What is it? Yer starin' real hard at me..."

Tsukasa points at the lime green and electric yellow fabric combination he's holding. "What are these?" It's a gaudy combination of colors to Tsukasa's eye, making him instinctively want to flinch at what combining them could create.

In turn, however, Mika seems to perk up at the question with a smile beginning to break out on his face. If he had a tail, Tsukasa would guess it'd be wagging. "Oh these things?" He giggles, rubbing under his nose with a finger. "It's for Nakkun an' his unit. Y'see, Oshi-san is real busy making uniforms for the next Ra*bit's live alongside the transfer student, and Nakkun needed Switch's outfits redone 'cause the ones they had are dirty and torn up. He tried asking Oshi-san since he's his older brother figure and stuff, but since he's busy Nakkun asked me."

"Nakkun...? Are you referring to Sakasaki-senpai?" Switch isn't a unit that Tsukasa felt familiar with, so the context clues of Mika mentioning Shu made him draw a line. The youngest of the infamous troublemaking Five Oddballs needed assistance and since it couldn't be solved in the circle of those five, it was relegated outwards. "Are the members of Switch really okay with you redoing their unit outfits?"

"That's what I asked Nakkun when he asked me to help him," Mika says with a self-depreciating chuckle. "He just insisted that 'cause we both got that weird similar hurting curse that he'd be fine if I did it."

"Similar hurting curse?"

Mika rolls up his sweater sleeve to expose a bunch of needle pinpricks along his fingers and wrist. "Whenever I poked myself with the needle while workin' yesterday, Nakkun complained since it was hurting him too. I asked him about this and he just told me it's a curse or somethin'. I tried asking Oshi-san, but he kept bein' vague and insulting the one senior from Undead in his class. 'Feeling the ramifications of failed wooing attempts makes my life difficult. How annoying.'"

_ Hakaze-senpai and Itsuki-senpai? _ Tsukasa's brows furrow as he studies the tile under their feet. That is a combination he wouldn't have expected from this strange curse. Then again, if he had been asked prior to this accidental run in, he wouldn't have guessed Mika and Natsume could have ended up in the same segment of this horrid spell. Having the knowledge of them all being partnered together did help, in its own unique way; that eliminated four potential soulmates. He never would have assumed Mika or Natsume, or Kaoru or Shu would be his other half anyway.

He sighs much too loudly, making Mika let out a questioning noise. "Y'okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright." Running a hand through his hair, Tsukasa looks up again and stares at Mika. Again, the curious case of heterochromia avoids returning his stare, instead studying the fabrics in his arms. A wave of nervousness flows off him, but Tsukasa pointedly ignores it. "Can I ask you something, however?"

"What's up?"

"This might be an invasive question," he starts, now twiddling his own thumbs, "but how did you come to discover Sakasaki-senpai was your  _ partner _ ? I've been looking for years and I have yet to come into contact with mine. It's exhausting! Especially because of how clumsy they are, causing me to be injured day in and day out! As a matter of fact, it seems a lot of students here at Yumenosaki seem to be meeting their  _ soulmates _ ... am I just unlucky that mine doesn't attend as well? Or perhaps... perhaps they're younger than me? Maybe they'll enter at a later-"

"Suou-kun?"

"Ah- yes, Kagehira-senpai?"

When he looks up, Mika actually makes steady eye contact with him, a gentle smile on his face. He looks more serene, and in a way much more mature than the Mika that Tsukasa had known up to that point. Mika could be like that...? "I did learn one thing from Nakkun 'bout this curse, since he's all well-versed about curses. He told me that the longer ya go without meeting them, the more life will try t'push you and whoever else together. That's why a lot of us students here are runnin' into our partners.

"I don't get a lot of how Nakkun worded it since he likes to talk in riddles and all that. I think it's kinda cute~" Mika chuckles, scratching at his cheek. If Tsukasa squints, he can notice a tinge of pink under Mika's skin. "If you're super worried about meeting your people, don't be. Life'll draw you in closer to whoever it's gonna be soon. Who knows? Whoever it is could be attending Yumenosaki right now!"

Those words echo throughout Tsukasa's head much longer than the echoes of Mika's shoes squeaking on the floor in the hallway as he scurries off to the Handicrafts Club's room.

"Attending Yumenosaki-? Now?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for being a week late for this update i've been working on my enst secret santa assignment + it's been a rough mental illness time. i might space these updates out to every other week until i get back into a good groove
> 
> charas/ships in this chapter  
> \- yuuta  
> \- yuutori  
> \- tetohina

Yuuta looks ever-disgusted as he pokes the strawberries sitting atop the whipped cream in the parfait glass in front of him, though his tone is neutral when he asks, "Can you repeat that?"

Tsukasa, already with a mouthful of parfait, looks up with a spoon hanging from his mouth like he just got caught off guard. He pulls the spoon from his mouth and sticks it back in his own parfait, nodding. "Mhm," is his muffled reply as he swallows the sweet bite in his mouth, "of course. I asked you if you know about this  _ soulmates _ curse and if you've met yours."

"Met mine-?" Yuuta almost seems to scowl, still poking the parfait out of mostly boredom at this point. "I have an inkling, but I'm not sure if I'm-"

"Who?!"

Now he raises a brow, half-smiling back at the eagerly-leaning-on-the-table Tsukasa across from him. The exclamation was so loud that a few other patrons of the fruits parlor look over at them, causing Tsukasa to wince and sink back into his seat when Yuuta sulks a bit lower to remain unseen. "Eh... you don't have a good relationship with-"

"Leader?!"

"No, no! It's not Tsukinaga-senpai!" Yuuta waves his hands around. "Doesn't he have a soulmate already?"

"Two," Tsukasa corrects with a bitter huff. "Hmph. He had it easy, since Sena-senpai and Ritsu-senpai were in a unit with him! Of course they'd identify each other so quickly. Meanwhile myself and Narukami-senpai are hopelessly still searching..." He shakes his head and looks back to Yuuta with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I don't mean to  _ rant _ at you. If it's not Leader, who else do I have a rambunctious relationship with?"

Yuuta deadpans, which only confuses Tsukasa more. "Really?"

"Yes...?"

Yuuta grabs two clumps of hair dangling at the front of his face and grips them tightly, pulling them forward to stand out. He makes a mischievous expression as well. "Stupid Suous~" he imitates in a high-pitched tone.

" _ JESUS CHRIST _ !"

"A-ah, Tsukasa-kun, not so loud!" They're being stared at again, though this time Tsukasa doesn't take notice. He only comes to his senses after Yuuta reaches across the table and tugs on his sleeve. Wait, when did he stand up? He doesn't remember, but he has no time to think about it as Yuuta loudly whispers, "Please sit down! People are looking!"

The words take a moment to process, although Yuuta has already tugged him back into a sitting position when they do. His face tints a light pink in embarrassment, trying to hide behind his parfait glass while simultaneously getting another scoop ready to eat. When in doubt, eat sweets. It's worked to calm him down so far in his life.

But still, is Yuuta serious?

"Are you serious about it possibly being Himemiya-kun?" Might as well be direct and ask.

Yuuta looks around desperately and, once he confirms there aren't any other Yumenosaki students in the parlor, sighs through his nose while visibly relaxing. "I am serious," he confirms. "I was helping him bring some of the paperwork from our class to the Student Council room because Fushimi-senpai was busy doing something else, and on the way he stumbled and landed on his elbow real hard. It hurt me too, and I dropped all the papers I had been holding..." He ducks his face behind his hands with a whine. "Ugh, what a stupid way to figure it out! I told Aniki and he couldn't stop laughing at me. As if he has any right to! He and Tetora-kun kept injuring each other on purpose during the beach match like idiots."

Even though Yuuta talks on, Tsukasa's eyes fall to the table as he gets lost in thought. Even the hand with the scoop of his parfait stops in midair. What Mika said that Natsume told him seems to be true. Keito and Eichi, the first pair he knew about since enrolling; then Leo and Izumi and Ritsu ended up being in a trio together; Mika with Natsume; Mika implying that Shu and Kaoru were together; Yuuta with Tori; Tetora with Hinata; hell, even Makoto from that loser Trickstar unit knew who his partner is! Maybe life is driving everybody together? Then again, why in high school? Why not at a university, or their first job out of high school, or when they're all thirty?

Maybe high school is the ideal time to meet them...? That makes no sense though. High school is the time that a person develops the most emotional maturity and responsibility. Throwing destiny relating to one's future romance into the mix just seems chaotic. Besides, one of the Suou servants had been speaking about how he just met the last of his partners this year and he's nearly forty. Age range can't be a factor for the thing Natsume mentioned to Mika.

Maybe the clock doesn't tick much longer for some of them, so the person controlling fate got them to meet sooner?

His face falls. That certain is true for Eichi, at the least...

With that morbid thought, his fingers drum on the table. Does that mean all of them that knew their destined ones were going to die soon? That thought makes him glance across the table, mildly concerned for his conversation partner. Yuuta must have caught on that his thoughts had run away, and currently is scrolling through his phone. Is Yuuta going to-?

"Yuuta-kun, are you  _ dying _ ?"

"Huh?!"


End file.
